In 2020, a small community of the Bataan province in the Philippines built a hatchery to protect the nests of the endangered pawikan (sea turtles) that came to lay eggs on the beach. To support the conservation efforts, you can too donate a small amount of money to “adopt” a nest and help the community protect those eggs until they reach maturity!
Each year since then, my blogger friends Markus and Micah raise awareness for this cause, encouraging people to adopt a pawikan nest to save the baby turtles and empower the community.
Credit: all the pictures from this post are from Markus and Micah
Adopting a nest allows the members of the community to save the eggs, which are then kept in a hatchery to protect them from wild animals, poachers, tides and erosion. This way, the eggs are nursed until they hatch, and the baby turtles are then released to the sea. There are different species of turtles and, this year, even the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles laid their eggs in the area and were released to the sea by volunteers!
Thanks to the donations, the hatchery has been able to save thousands of baby turtles and is now also registered as an NGO in the Philippines! The donations not only help protect the turtles, but also provide a livelihood for the volunteers of this community
How does it work?
If you adopt a nest, you’ll have an “assigned” one named after you and receive all the documentation: your marker with information on the nest such as the number of eggs inside, date and time it was laid, location, and who helped the mother give birth. Then, you’ll also get pictures when the eggs hatch and the baby turtles run to the sea – which is the cutest thing ever!
Adopting one nest only costs 10$, and the whole amount of your donation goes directly towards the protection of the eggs, and the hatchery is entirely run by volunteers.
How can you donate?
For the donation, you can either visit the hatchery’s Instagram page and find the link to donate the money, or send the donation via Paypal from one of Markus and Micah’s posts, which is what I did as it seemed easier to me.
Useful links
Instagram page of the hatchery
– Facebook page of the hatchery
– Markus and Micah’s post with a Paypal link
Each year, more and more nests are protected thanks to the increasing number of volunteers.
Join the cause right now!
🐢
Sunny Days with Juliette 
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